Fullmetal Alchemist: Brave
by NicAniLo
Summary: Roy and his team has been captured after their ambush plan is leaked. Interrogation seems to be the only thought in their captors minds, but will they break under the stress or survive the ordeal? One shot. Parental!RoyxEd (sort of) Oneshot CAUTION: Mentions of rape and violence, viewer discretion advised.


**Warning: suggestive content and implied rape.**

Roy's POV:

It seems like everyone has their own moment when fear wells within them. Where you don't know where you are or why you're there. Sometimes it's metaphorical, sometimes it means in life. For me, it was literal. I had little idea of where I was and the reason why could only be answered as 'for interrogation'.

My captors had just unbound me from the hard metal chair after a long and excruciating torture and questioning session. My face was bruised and my chest sore no thanks to the burly man I had learned was named Proxy. He might've even fractured a rib or two. The worst part was my shin where they had taken a wooden chair to flesh. That hurt and I had screamed like a dog.

However, if my captors hadn't noticed yet, they were soon to find out that I don't break easily. They wouldn't get a word from me on anything and it would take a lot more than simple torture to get me to talk.

I could only watch as Proxy and the man who'd stood in the back heaved my half naked, bound form into a cell-like dungeon and strapped my arms to the walls using thick silver shackles. As soon as they were gone I tugged, the large wooden door slamming shut behind them. I pulled with all my might in hopes of freeing myself.

"Don't bother"

I startled badly at the sudden, soft voice. Across the cell, slumping, blindfolded by duct tape, and chained to the other wall, sat Edward. To say he looked bad would be an understatement. Like me, they had removed his shirt and slacks, but against his small body and pale skin, laid dozens of ugly purple blotches. His lip was bleeding and his head hung. The drying blood and bruises around his flesh wrist showed the tried and failed attempts to escape.

"I've already tried"

His voice was weak. Dull. Hopeless.

"Fullmetal?" I called, more to assure that it was in fact the young prodigy I had brought into the military. His head lifted slightly at the title and he sighed.

"They got you too, huh?"

"They got all of us" I began, remembering the events leading up to now. They had anticipated our ambush and in return attacked us, capturing all of my men and three from another squad, Samson, Marissa, and Louis. I could only hope and pray that they weren't being treated as us. However, hope was almost foolish in a situation like this.

Ed gulped, the obvious Adam's apple he had grown into as of late, bobbing with the sensation.

"Are you…" He couldn't finish his question. It seemed too hard to say. However, I knew what he meant.

"I'm fine" I lied, unwilling to open his mind to worry about me. I'd rather him ignorant than anxious. I was going to ask what they did to him, but he already looked slightly nauseous and I was afraid to make him recall the previous events. I didn't want to talk about what they did to me. Why would he?

It was quiet for several minutes, neither of us willing to break the silence. Neither of us willing to accept that we'd been taken prisoner. Ed shifted slightly against his binds before sighing and speaking.

"Do you have any idea where we are? I haven't had this blindfold off once since I woke up."

I hesitated, did I want him to know? It would only make him worry.

"...No, I don't" I lied. In fact, I was pretty positive we were somewhere underneath the black district. The place was well known for its murderers and rapists and I had never once heard a good thing about it. It definitely wasn't a good spot to be in, especially not as the victim.

"Liar" was the quiet word that escaped Ed's bloody, bruised lips. He must've noticed my hesitation, but didn't question any further, obviously realizing if I had lied to him it must've been for a good reason.

XxXxXxXxXx

As the night approached, only noticeable by the cracks in the corners and the fading light from outside the cell, a cold front set in, causing both of us to curl up and shiver against our restraints. It was obvious our captors knew it would be cold down here, that we'd grow weak from shivering all night, but that there wasn't any chance of the hypothermia taking us. It was obvious they didn't want us to have strength. It was obvious they didn't want us to try to escape.

"M-mustang?" Ed's chattering voice drifted to me and I lifted my head slightly. His lips were blue and if it weren't for the dark, I'm sure he would've looked paler to me.

"Yeah, kid?" I asked, trying my best to keep the stutter from my voice. I had to stay strong. I couldn't let Ed down.

"A-are we going to d-die here?"

A part of me was glad he couldn't see, because if he could, he'd see the tears well up in my eyes. He was so scared and it sounded in his voice. I was scared, not that I'd admit it.

"No" I said, "no, we won't die here. We'll make it out alive. Besides, you still have your brother's body to get back"

A small, pitiful smile spread across his face and he laughed once. "Thanks"

Silence hovered around us, the only sound being small footsteps that padded above and every once in awhile a faint scream. Ed's head turned in the direction of the noise every time it came and it pained me to see the fear etched on his face. I couldn't help but wonder if that was the sounds of my own men being beaten and tortured for information.

Proxy and the previous man came back not long after the light began flooding in through the cracks and crevices.

"Good morning, sleep well?" The man from the wall asked in a sarcastic voice, peering through the bars of the cell. I decided right then and there that I very much disliked this man.

"Get the kid" he commanded Proxy, leaning back from the cell once more. Ed jumped nearly a mile when the man from the wall demanded for him. My own anxiety built up at the thought of them beating him again.

"No!" I shouted, pulling hard against the chains, "Leave him alone! Take me instead! Don't touch him!"

Proxy ignored me of course and went straight to Ed, unbinding his arms and pulling them away from each other as he forced him to walk out of the cell. Ed struggled best he could against the large man but, being three times his size, he was easily overpowered. I could hear Ed's breath rage out of control and near hyperventilation. To put it bluntly, that did absolutely nothing to calm my own nerves.

I continued to writhe and pull even after the three had left, the large wooden door slamming shut behind them, wishing and praying that the heavy metal would bend or brake. My heart pounded heavily inside my chest and I feared what they were doing to him. I would rather him answer their questions than them hurt him.

XxXxXxXxXx

It seemed like an eternity before the door was reopened and a barely conscious Ed was heaved back into his original position and bound to the wall. His head slumped farther than before, if possible, and his knees pulled close to his chest. His hair had been pulled out of its braid and now fell at his shoulders, but instead of looking like a river of gold like normal, it looked dull and lifeless due to the darkness and dirt embedded in it.

"...Ed?" I asked quietly, biting my lip when he didn't answer.

After a while he took a long shuddering breath and raised his head. "I don't know how much more of this I can take, Mustang"

His voice was so broken and tears fell from behind the blindfold.

"What'd they do, Ed?" I asked hesitantly. A part of me knew he'd have to go back in there and the idea of me knowing what he was going through scared me. But not knowing was driving me mad. What could they have done to him that would make him this vulnerable?

Ed didn't respond and I had begun to think he didn't hear me when his head slumped again and he gasped in a breath.

"I've lost so much." His voice was watery and held so much pain. "I've lost my mother and my father. I lost my childhood. I lost two of my limbs. I lost my own brothers body…They took the one thing I'd had left, whether I'd realized I had it or not"

And just like that my world came crashing down, throwing in me into an ice bath that caused me to shiver and gasp. "...Ed" I breathed, my own eyes watering at what he had implied.

Ed drew in a sharp breath and began weeping. His cries were quiet on the outside, but on the inside he had been screaming his loudest and was near breaking my eardrums. There was now no doubt in my mind that they had raped him. Probably even the first time he'd been interrogated as well. They had raped him... A child… What monster could do something like that?..

"Ed, I'm going to get out you of here. I promise"

He said nothing in return, but his sobs eventually died down until he was left hiccupping for breath.

"You-" he stopped, hesitating for several minutes before continuing. "You know how you had said I was brave?"

"Y-yeah"

"I think this proves you wrong" he sobbed

"No, Ed, you are brave. You're braver than most men twice your age"

He shook his head, "Then why do I want so badly for this all to end right now?"

I hesitated, "… Ed, bravery isn't doing thing you don't enjoy just for the heck of it. Bravery is staying strong and fighting on despite not wanting to do it. I can't imagine you've told them anything. They wouldn't have continued to treat you this way if you had. Ed, you are brave, you hear me? You are."

He didn't speak for nearly a minute, then a small, almost inaudible "Thanks" came from across the room and I knew it had been from him.

XxXxXxXxXx

Our captors were relentless. They came back for me not long after and it began to seem like the days were fading together. It couldn't have been more than five or six days with them, but who knew?

After my third interrogation, they had given me a long drink of water and I assumed they had with Ed as well because his throat sounded slightly less dry when we talked. He had yet to be able to see and I suspected it was due to him being able to transmute without a circle. If he couldn't see what elements he was using, it would be harder to correctly analyze the material and was more likely for a rebound.

As the days passed, Ed became more and more silent with words and would cry hard after every interrogation. His form of interrogation made me wonder if the same form was being used on Hawkeye and the other female soldier, Marissa, maybe even some of the men. It's not unlikely that they had originally thought Ed a girl with his long hair and baby face. If so, it was also possible that at least Hawkeye and Marissa were being treated the same. Then there are soldiers like Fuery. He's small enough they….

I needed to stop dwelling on this. Since I hadn't yet been treated that way, there was the possibility that they were just pedophiles looking for children... Right?

I sighed as I sat. My fingers had long since lost feeling due to lack of circulation and the cold, however trying to wiggle them gave me something to do instead of dwelling on the others or my own pain.

Ed hadn't moved since they brought him back last. I couldn't imagine the amount of physical and psychological pain he was going through. They had stopped dressing him at all a couple days ago. Apparently breaking his pride and humiliating him were their targets.

The thought of someone rescuing us still seemed impossible. It looked like the only way we were ever going to escape was by our own hands, but a plan had yet to come to mind. I could only wait and hope they had come up with something.

As if on cue with my thoughts, Ed shifted, placing his feet palms together and touching the silver around his wrists. Nothing happened.

"Ed?"

He tried again, clapping his feet and touching the shackles. This time it moved slightly and Ed gasped as it dug into his already raw flesh wrist.

"Ed?" My voice was louder this time.

His head bolted over to me, his teeth grinding and his jaw rigid. He took a deep breath through clenched teeth before croaking out at me.

"I can't stay here anymore, Mustang! What is the bar made out of?!"

I stared at him for a moment with wide eyes. "C-chromium, I think"

He clapped his feet together once more and touched the silver. It shriveled up and fell. Ed was quick to rub at his wrist before pulling the duct tape off of his eyes. It got stuck in his hair and he let go allowing it to stay in his hair before making his way over to me.

"This will hurt for a sec" he said before clapping his hands gently and touching the shackles around my wrist.

It did hurt. The metal squeezed tighter to pull itself apart. As soon as it was off, we stood and headed for the bars. Ed clapped and touched the bars, falling through slightly when they collapsed.

Ed was going mad with adrenaline and it showed desperately. He half limped half sprinted to the large wooden door.

"Ed, wait!" I croaked before he could clap his hands.

He turned back to look at me with wide eyes and trembling lips. "I wanna go home" he sobbed.

I caught up with him and pulled him into a hug. He flinched and trembled violently, but relaxed at the same time, if possible.

"We can't leave the others here. We have to find them"

It seemed he stopped breathing for a second, like he had completely forgotten the others who had come here with him.

He nodded and pulled back after a minute. I couldn't imagine how odd we looked, one naked subordinate hugging his almost naked superior in a dimly lit hallway, both covered in cuts and bruises and the smaller one having a wad of duct tape tangled in his hair.

"Now, let's think this through" I said, "can you make any writing utensils, or even a knife?"

Ed looked around for a minute before clapping his hands and touching the wall. A small knife was produced. "Sorry, I don't think there are any aloys to make lead" I took it from him and cut into the back of my hand.

"What-" he started, grabbing at my hand.

"Relax, I'm just drawing a circle" I said, pulling back and continuing. I could tell that if my hands were any less numb, this act would be excruciating.

Once I was done, I pointed to the opposite side of the room and snapped. A small flame was produced and shot across the room. Now that we both had a form of defense, I turned and nodded to the door.

He clapped and placed his palms on the door. The metal in the door turned into a pole and dropped to the floor with a clatter, causing the wood of the door to open. Ed peaked out into the hallway he had never seen and signaled it clear.

It was dark for one thing. Must be night. That was good, they never came at night. I led the way down the corridor since I knew more about the place than he. The door next to ours had a window in it and I peeked inside. It was too dark to see anything, but I heard faint panting.

"Who's in here?" I called.

"C-Colonel?" It was Havoc. "How'd you get out?"

I nodded to Ed and he clapped, opening the door. We walked in to see Havoc chained similar to how we had been and Fuery, unconscious on the opposite side. Fuery was in just his underwear and Havoc had been graced with a shirt. At least now there couldn't be factors such as embarrassment to deal with since we were all this way. Ed went straight to Havoc, telling him to brace himself then undoing his chains with alchemy. Unsurprisingly, Havoc shed his shirt for Ed to wear, leaving him in only boxers.

I went the Fuery, slapping him lightly on the face to rouse him from his sleep. He didn't wake.

"Havoc, what's wrong with Fuery?" I asked, looking back at him as he rubbed his sore wrists.

"I-I don't know, boss. He hasn't woken since they last took him and they've taken me twice since then."

Ed came over and undid his wrists and Fuery slumped forward.

"Havoc, can you carry him?" I asked.

Havoc nodded, standing up and stretching slightly and walking over. He had trouble at first, but by the time he got over he was dealing with only a small limp. He turned and faced his back toward his sleeping friend and Ed and I hoisted Fuery onto his back.

"Okay, let's go" I said and together, we walked back out of the room. The three doors next were the same. The first having Breda and Samson, the second with Hawkeye and Louis, and the third with Falman and Marissa. Out of all eight of us, none wore more than a shirt and shorts and two of us were unconscious. Fuery on Havoc's back and Louis on Samson's back. It seemed we were home free from there as Ed transmuted weapons for those conscious and not preoccupied, and a few spares just in case.

We then headed down a long hall, the same way we had come from. The cringe from the team was very visible as we passed the room they had interrogated us in. The only one oblivious to the feeling was Ed since he was blindfolded the entire time.

The sound of an alarm going off sent chills through everyone. From the light peering in, we could tell they had been on their way to interrogate someone when they found us gone. How we had gotten this far, I wasn't sure.

"Hey!" Someone called from behind us. This one was named Huestis, only known by the few that had been 'lucky' enough to have been in his company.

Ed visibly flinched and his eyes widened before he clapped his hands, pressed them to the floor, and a wall shot up from the ground, blocking us from the tall but slim man.

"We have to go" Ed whispered, backing up and sliding down a wall to his knees. "It was him...it was him...it was him"

"Ed, come on. Snap out of it!" I called, rushing to him and grabbing his wrists.

"It was him…" Tears welled in the boy's eyes. "It was him…"

"Ed!"

This got his attention and he looked up to me, the movement of his irises pushing tears over his lids and down his cheeks.

"It's okay, come let's go. Let's go see Alphonse"

His jaw moved up I down as if trying to speak, but nothing came out. Eventually he nodded and I helped him up. The rest of the team had been watching, some with tears in their eyes, others with horror.

We began down the hall again, proceeding as fast as we could that, with what our injuries were and the ones asleep, came as a slow jog.

"They're over here!" Someone yelled, aiming their gun at us. We froze. More soon joined their comrade and aimed their guns as well, slowly walking toward us.

"Ed, cover your eyes"

"What, why?" He asked, looking up to me but using his hands to cover his eyes none the less.

"Just do it. And don't peek"

He nodded and I stepped a few steps ahead of the group. All it took was one snap and the enemies before us were sent writhing to the floor.

"What'd you do?" Ed asked after he heard their screams, however, he didn't remove his hands from his eyes. Whether he was being obedient for once or knew what happened and didn't want to see it, I didn't know. I didn't answer. "Mustang! What'd you do?!"

"Ed" Hawkeye called, pulling him close to her.

"Come on, let's get moving again. Ed keep your eyes closed."

"Sir, he knows what you did anyway." Havoc whispered to me. Over the sound of the enemy dying, there was no way for Ed to hear our conversation.

"I don't care. He's still a child whether he likes it or not. This stuff will only give him nightmares."

"It's not like he doesn't already have them."

I ignored him. It doesn't matter how many he has. Why add more to it?

We passed the fallen and turned down the direction they had come through. On our way out, we fought several others who were immediately dispatched. The sun on our faces as we exited the building was marvelous. It was warm and it was bright.

It didn't take long for central command to receive our SOS and we were soon met by reinforcements, paramedics, and clothing. Everyone on my team was shipped to the hospital to check injuries and perform vaccines to fight off infection.

After being held captive for twelve days, it was found that out of the eight there, all were injured, all had fractures, all were dehydrated, all had lost weight, six had broken bones, five were raped, three had concussions, one was pregnant, one needed surgery, but zero lost their lives.

XxXxXxXxXx

A gasp escaped my lips and I sat up in my bed. It had been nearly a week since we had escaped, it was only natural that nightmares would plague my mind. Only this time, it had been of Ed. It had been my sick imagination showing images of the blinded boy unable to keep others away as they forced themselves onto him. I gulped and wiped my face, praying the images would leave my mind quicker.

"Can't sleep?" The voice pulled me back to the reality where we were safe and in a hospital.

I turned towards the figure in the bed next to mine, "No, don't worry about it."

"Come on, you don't have to lie to me." Ed scoffed. His voice was obviously tired as it dragged through the sentence.

I didn't reply. I really didn't want to tell him that I had been dreaming about him. That'd be just another thing for him to hold against me and call me a perv for.

"What about you, why can't you sleep?" I asked instead.

He turned to his side to face me, "...I spent that entire time with my eyes closed, I think I'm allowed to keep them open now"

I don't think he realized how much that made my heart ache.

"...You're right"

It was my fault he had been there in the first place. I had asked him to accompany us on our search. I just never expected to be caught. If I had known, I would've gone alone. I'd rather take all of their beatings than for any of them to have to suffer.

"...You'll have to let me buy you a thank you lunch." He yawned as he spoke,his eyes drifting closed for a mere second before snapping open again.

"Thank you? Why?"

"Because you helped me more than you'd believe."

"How'd I help you? You were the one to get us out of there"

He hummed, "...I never would've made it to then without your pep talk." He laughed once, "Looks like you're not completely useless"

I ignored his tease, "I didn't give you a pep talk… I simply stated the obvious"

He closed his eyes, "Whatever you say, Mustang. I know the truth. You said it was me who was brave, but in all of that, I never heard you break once. You made me brave." Ed drifted to sleep not long after, apparently not caring for a reply to his statement. Not that I was going to reply. I slept fitfully through the night, wondering what Ed meant when he said I _made_ him brave.

A/N

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment or favorite the story. Constructive criticism is allowed and much appreciated.


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